Sunday, March 15, 2015

Republicans Aren't Interested In Governing -- Look At The Iran Letter

By Manifesto Joe

The letter to Iran was signed by 47 Republican senators. Several, I think it was seven, had the good sense to refrain from signing it. But the letter was an attempt to undercut the foreign policy of a sitting president, sent as Secretary of State John Kerry was negotiating with Iran over curbs on nuclear weapons.

The 47 GOP senators sent this letter to a nation that has been a longtime U.S. adversary. They were obviously motivated by their contempt for President Barack Obama.

If this traitorous action doesn't demonstrate that the Republican Party of today isn't interested in governing, only in power -- I don't know what could be. It shows an abysmal lack of knowledge about the constitutional powers of the presidency, a president whom members of this group have described as "lawless." And yet these ludicrous hypocrites took it upon themselves to anticipate, and even create, foreign policy after Obama leaves office. They are beneath contempt.

This should demonstrate that the vast majority of the Republican Party's high officeholders are unfit for high office. The Democrats don't seem to have any vastly superior alternatives on hand, but it is unimaginable that 47 Democratic senators would have done anything like this during the lame duck presidency of Il Doofus.

The Republicans are unfit for office, and the American people should let them know this, in no uncertain terms, in November 2016.

Several verbal short-cuts to describe the differences in the political philosophies of the two major parties:* Republi-can'ts rule ... by denial of change to the the system to improve it. While Democrats govern ... somewhat sloppily - due to lack of cohesion within the party and its true big-tent nature.

* Republi-can't economic policy is to concentrate wealth among the chosen few who see ruling and manipulation as a birthright or a reward for their religious zealotry. Republi-can'ts concentrate [or shrink] the economy. While Democrats' economic policy is to distribute opportunity, not wealth, according to effort, education, experience and chance. Democrats expand the economy.

* Republican political policy is based on restricting access to government and restricting government's access to the people. Democratic political policy is based on expanding access of a government to the people, while expanding the access of government to the people.

* Lastly Republi-can'ts distrust the role of government if it solves problems defined by government. The zealots alone are deputed the role of selecting problems to be solved. Democrats rely on government deciding which programs it can solve ... providing there is no ethical violation of trust, fidelity or integrity.

All of this is rather well known, but I haven't seen it expressed in these simple terms before.

There are a lot of self-fulfilling prophesies one finds among Republicans. Take the Postal Service. It was on the decline anyway, because of email, but then, on top of that, as Republicans are apt to respond, let's underfund and understaff it. Then document its mounting costs and growing failures!

A right-wing friend of mine is a Ted Cruz fan. My friend has worked for the government for 30 years. He was also a big fan of the Iraq War.Cruz's big theme is abolishing the IRS.I asked my friend how he expects to continue getting a paycheck and government pension if the IRS is abolished. I also asked him where the government will raise trillions of dollars to pay for all these wars he supports if the IRS is gone. He mumbled some vague right-wing B.S. and changed the subject.I would actually like to see the IRS abolished, just to demonstrate a lesson to these right-wing assholes.Yes, there would be drawbacks to ending the IRS. But I'm so sick and tired of these right-wing asswipes who vote for people like Ted Cruz without even thinking through the consequences of their vote.

Abolishing the IRS to teach reactionaries a lesson is a fine example of cutting off your hands to prove they are prehensile tools.

Also - if we were to do as you suggest, we'd never again have a progressive income tax system. We'd be stuck with a flat tax or ad volarem tax that would push the last remnants of manufacturing out of the country.

Separated at birth ...

Followers

Check out Joe's new food and libations blog

Obama's Secret Army?

I fear that some right-wing rubber-room refugees may think I'm serious.

Inside Sarah Palin's Church?

No, not really. This was somewhere in Tennessee. But she used to belong to a Pentecostal church that, among other things, buys into speaking in unknown tongues and faith healing. And then, there's this thing about handling venomous serpents ...

Post of May 18, 2009

"I consider myself a reasonably tough person. But if you waterboarded me enough times, I would probably sign my house and car over to you and confess to the murders of Jonbenet Ramsey and the Lindbergh baby." -- MJ

About Me

As all my posts state, I am an underground writer living in Texas. I am doing political blogging under a nom de plume for various reasons. I was born in 1956 in a small Texas town; I now live in a medium-large city. I have been writing my entire adult life, and have been published, both mainstream and underground. In my teens I was actually a libertarian-type conservative. Meeting Young Republican types in college was crucial to my being cured of that once and for all. At one point in my 20s I was something of a Trotskyite, but eventually became a more moderate progressive.
Since I started this blog and affiliated with other blogs, my writing has appeared in the USA Today, CNN and Reuters online editions, in Buzzflash.com, Crooks and Liars, and a number of other popular sites. My invaluable mentors have been Marc McDonald at BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com, and Blue Girl of They Gave Us a Republic and other fine blogs.
In keeping with anonymity, this is all I should say.

See "Manifesto Joe's Great Moments in Conservative History, Chapter 1"

Favorite progressive movies

Mister Roberts -- see January 2009 post.

The Big Parade, The Crowd, Our Daily Bread, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Seven Days in May, Dr. Strangelove, The Grapes of Wrath, Silkwood, Salt of the Earth, Born on the Fourth of July, A Face in the Crowd, The Manchurian Candidate, Easy Rider, Chinatown, Reds, The Naked and the Dead.

Fear on Trial.

Open City, Seven Beauties, Swept Away, The Bicycle Thief, Grand Illusion, Fury, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremburg, Pressure Point, The President's Analyst, From Here to Eternity, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Milagro Beanfield War, Native Son, Bob Roberts, There Will Be Blood.

Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, Pan's Labyrinth, Network, Cutter's Way, All Quiet on the Western Front, Twelve Angry Men, Matewan, Return of the Seacaucus Seven, American History X, Putney Swope, The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, Norma Rae, North Country.